60 countries around the world have signed up to offer free stay in return for skills

Remember when you had to do chores in exchange for some pocket money from your parents? A bed-and-breakfast initiative called Barter Week will provide a similar service wherein guests can exchange goods or services in return for free accommodation around the world. The organizers of Barter Week will provide this service in over 60 countries from 19th to 25th November 2018.

This fun initiative has many takers from around the world and is most appealing to budget-conscious travellers who don’t mind going the extra mile for affordable trips. Hosts list rooms online along with ‘requests’ where a potential guest can look for appropriate properties and contact them to barter directly at no extra cost. Travellers can also suggest barters of their own such as teaching a language, making homemade food or giving away collectibles and antiques. The host can then either accept or reject their terms or negotiate till they arrive at a fair exchange.

The entire initiative is the brainchild of an Italian B&B website bed-and-breakfast.it. In 2009, they launched the annual Italian Settimana del Baratto event which was inspired by a Sardinian B&B which had barter options. The project’s success led to the Barter Week initiative which will open for the first time to countries all around the world.

Some of the requests by hosts include creating a website, procuring fresh produce from the traveller’s home country, professional photography, laundry help and some will even accept books! Some peculiar requests range from tips on how to make the best pizza, a bicycle for a very tall man and ancient silver spoons. Care is taken to carefully monitor all requests and not let any inappropriate or illegal ones go through. Soon, a new feature will be available for users on the website where they can search for requests by category and look for properties that accept requests year round.